FairPlay founder Francois Baird has proposed a raft of actions which he believes will relieve what he terms a government “assault” on the poultry industry.
“Poultry is the largest agricultural sector, employing more than 100 000 people, mostly in rural South Africa, and producing 66% of all the meat consumed by South Africans,” Baird said.
“If the domestic poultry industry collapses, so too will the grain industry, the local economies in rural areas, rural small businesses, and so on.
“This chain reaction will result in collapsed rural economies and mass unemployment.”
A key priority identified by Baird to support the industry is energy affordability.
He believes all poultry farmers should have cheaper, more reliable electricity. High prices and the need for back-up generation have raised the cost of producing more affordable chicken, and driven many small-scale farmers out of business.
Affordable and reliable rural rail and road transport and rural water infrastructure, bird flu vaccination and culling compensation are also key priorities.
“While the poultry industry has invested R2.2 billion in extra capacity, and created thousands of jobs, the government has refused compensation for chickens it ordered culled during bird flu outbreaks, and launched an ineffective and expensive bird flu vaccination programme, currently only at one site,” he said.
Amid all these obstacles, unfair trade has been added into the mix.
The DTIC has granted the United States a concession that has allowed it to dump 72 000 tonnes of American chicken in South Africa every year, “risking the South African chicken industry for nothing in return”.
Baird would like to see the government prevent chicken dumping in South Africa by applying WTO rules and applying proper import protocols.
He believes poultry farmers should be compensated for culling at government direction to contain bird flu, and that a simple and effective poultry vaccination programme should be implemented.
“These emergency chicken economy actions will serve all South Africans and go a long way to reviving the entire South African economy,” Baird said.
